Introduction

Present-Day Latin America is described by its education systems as well as the traditions of the different societies.  Throughout years, the culture of the Native Americans living in Latin America has been considered of no importance in the country. Where strategies and policies are made, policymakers forget to include the opinions of the Native Americans living in Latin America. Native Americans had their own culture long even before civilizations. They operated their own cultural economic and political structures. Unfortunately, they were stripped of their life and land by the people from the west (Chase-Dunn, Christopher, Alessandro Morosin, and Alexis Alvarez 17). After the people from west inhabited the area, which was predominantly inhabited by Red Indians, Native Americans were forced to assimilate into the white man’s ways. This meant that they were deprived of the right to preserve their culture by being obviated of the right to speak their language and dress their traditional clothing. Due to this, the old identities of the Native Americans had faded over the decades which have rendered stagnation in their social, economic and education process.

Native American Traditions before European Contact

Many historians are of the view that the first Indians in Latin America were nomadic, hunter and gatherers. They used tools made of stones to hunt and to defend them. As time professed, the Indians engaged themselves into basketry and in making bone tool. They are made refined tools from stoned. It is at this period that American Indians began to establish trade and migration routes. At around, 1000bc, the American Indians began to concentrate settlements near streams and rivers and eventually developed small scale agriculture. The Native Americans operated under an informal education system. In this kind of education system, there were no set formulae or guidelines. Knowledge, values, and skills were transformed from one generation to other through means of farming, parenting, and hunting. Different methods of informal education were used. These include storytelling, holding the discussion, engaging file trips. Most often, the elderly people who were deemed to be experienced enough took the responsibility of educating the young people.

Impact of Western thought, tradition, ways of thinking and doing

After the people from the west found their way in North and South America, they brought with them their culture. Formal education was an introduction to replace the informal/original system which according to European was ineffective. Formal education for Native American was propagated by missionaries who obtained support from their local governments. The introduction of formal education by the Europeans was a means of acculturating and assimilating the Native Americans into the European culture. To achieve their aim, the European forcefully removed the Native Americans from their homes and enrolled them into the European controlled schools. The contact with Europeans made the fur trade to blossom. The Europeans were in dire need of fur for their industries. The Native Americans provided them with the fur in exchange of trading items like cloth, beads, and firearms among other items.

These approaches by the Europeans to acculturation the Native Americans made the natives shy away from their indigenous culture and adopt the philosophy of Europeanization. Measures were put in place to exclude the Native American culture in the school curriculum and by ensuring all the students were made to drop their native culture including their language. The European authorities punished any student who was caught speaking the native language. To ensure that the Native Americans were thoroughly assimilated, boarding schools for the Native Americans were established. In these boarding schools, native students were forced to behave like west people in their ways of eating, clothing, and religion. Most were converted to Christianity and were forced to adopt European names. Due to the fear of being punished most Native Americans lost faith in their culture and environment.

Conclusion

The European contact with the Native Americans brought about mixed result. There were negative as well as positive impacts of the contact. On the negative side, the contact made the Native Americans to drop their traditions at the expense of the European culture.  On the positive, the contact opened trade channels between the Native Americans and the Europeans.

Reference

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